US Steel shares rise as Nippon Steel makes last-ditch effort to salvage deal

American Steel (New York Stock Exchange: X) increased by 3.4% A Nippon Steel (OTCPK:NPSCY) executive was reportedly in Washington to meet with U.S. officials in a bid to salvage its planned $14 billion purchase of U.S. Steel.

Several media reports have indicated that Nippon Steel Vice President Takahiro Mori was sc Wednesdayscheduled to meet with several deputy cabinet secretaries who are involved in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the agency that was apparently preparing to block the deal.

Mori, one of Nippon Steel’s lead negotiators on the deal, and US Steel (X) CEO David Burritt are expected to meet with Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves, among other officials, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The meeting comes as rumors have swirled for a week that the Biden administration is preparing to block the deal with U.S. Steel (X). Reuters reported last week that CFIUS sent a letter to Nippon Steel, saying the merger would pose a national security risk by harming the U.S. steel industry.

A number of U.S. business groups sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday, saying the Biden administration’s review of the deal was unduly influenced by political pressure.

“We are concerned that the CFIUS process is being used to advance policy agendas that are outside the committee’s purview and that endanger the American economy and workers,” the business groups wrote in the letter to Janet Yellen on Wednesday. “It is critical that CFIUS remain solely focused on defending America’s national security while championing economic openness.”